BusinessTN

Bottled water everywhere, and so many brands to drink. Yet, for Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores, only one brand is offered—bottled spring water from English Mountain Spring Water Co.

English Mountain started bottling and distributing water from a spring—dubbed “The Promise Land” (no “d” included)—located in the Great Smoky Mountains in September 1997. But the company made its big splash in the bottled water world when it landed an open-ended vendor agreement with the restaurant and country store chain.

The Dandridge-based bottled water company has spent the past seven years carving a unique niche in the multi-billion dollar bottled water industry, a plan that John Burleson, the company’s president, CEO and sole proprietor, says is what has kept his little operation afloat.

It seemed like a short ride from startup to stardom for Burleson when his two-year old company first earned the distinction of “Best Tasting Water in the World” at the 1999 Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting competition, beating out big names like Perrier.

Two years later, the company caught Cracker Barrel’s eye.

The image-conscious restaurant was looking for a bottled water company with an interesting history and a local, Tennessee connection that could deliver quality-tasting water, but in a plastic container that was consistent with the old country store’s nostalgic flavor. An ordinary bottle with a paper label wouldn’t float.

The two companies worked together for about a year to design an embossed, 20-ounce clear bottle that had the look and feel of the Hutchison-style glass bottles of the late 1800s.

Once the bottle design was approved, English Mountain took on the daunting task of nearly doubling its output of 200,000 cases of water produced annually to meet its new client’s needs. This included transporting cases to Cracker Barrel’s five distribution points in Maryland, South Carolina, Florida, Texas and Lebanon, Tenn., the company’s headquarters.

Today, English Mountain Spring Water and its proprietary bottle are available in all 500 Cracker Barrel stores and even is listed as a menu item that can be served in a frozen mug.

Mark Tanzer, vice president of product development with Cracker Barrel, would not comment on revenue generated from its bottled water sales, but did say they’re approaching the sale of its three-millionth bottle.

“The first full year with [Cracker Barrel in 2003], we sold a little over one million bottles. This year, we’re about 25% ahead of where we were at last year,” Burleson says. “That’s just phenomenal growth.”

Despite the company’s size, Cracker Barrel was confident that English Mountain was up to the challenge.

“They’re not Perrier, and they’re not Evian, but they had the capacity to supply our needs,” Tanzer says. “We’ve grown into the water business together.”

Currently, English Mountain has 21 employees and recently expanded to three bottling lines, increasing its square footage from 7,000 to 33,500.

In February, the company’s operations added robotics to handle packaging, heavy lifting and other tasks, leaving employees more time for other jobs.

The Cracker Barrel connection has triggered a flood of opportunities for the spring water supplier to do business with several national chains such as Maryville-based Ruby Tuesday and Florida-based Publix grocery stores.

Ruby Tuesday had narrowed its bottled water search to English Mountain and the Perrier Group.

“I knew that [contract] was probably not going to swing our way, and it didn’t,” Burleson says. “but the biggest thing there was marketing money.”

The Perrier Group, now called Nestlé Waters, was able to put marketing dollars back into the system for Ruby Tuesday, and English Mountain just couldn’t compete at that time.

Even with the modern advancements and a prestigious contract with Cracker Barrel, Burleson plans to stay the course while growing his business.

“It’s been a situation where I didn’t feel we were prepared” to entertain outside investment opportunities, says Burleson. “Given the growth mode, there’s always the temptation to go for some quick money.” However, he wants to ensure that any future investors get “a little bit of bang for their bucks.”

For now, Burleson is going with the flow, banking on his bottled water business to be his Promise Land.